Saw (RiffTrax Presents)
Saw is a 2004 American independent horror film directed by James Wan. The screenplay, written by Leigh Whannell, is based on a story by Wan and Whannell. The film stars Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Ken Leung, Tobin Bell, and Whannell. It is the debut of Wan and Whannell and the first installment of the seven-part Saw franchise. The film's story revolves around Adam (Whannell) and Lawrence (Elwes), two men who are chained in a dilapidated subterranean bathroom and are each given instructions via a microcassette recorder explaining how to escape. Adam is told he must escape the bathroom, while Lawrence is told to kill Adam before a certain time, or Lawrence's family will die. Meanwhile, police detectives investigate and attempt to find the victims' location and apprehend the mastermind behind the current "game" and several other similar incidents. RiffTrax Presents released their riff in May 2008. Plot Synopsis and Sample Spoilers Begin Adam Stanheight, a photographer, awakens in a full bathtub in a large industrial bathroom. He gets out and finds himself chained at the ankle to a pipe. Lawrence Gordon, an oncologist, is chained to a pipe across the room, and a corpse lies face-down on the floor between them, holding a revolver and a microcassette recorder. They each find a tape in their pocket, and Adam manages to retrieve the recorder. Adam's tape instructs him to escape the bathroom or he will die where he sits, and Lawrence's tape instructs him to kill Adam before six o'clock or not only will he die where he sits, but Alison and Diana, his wife and daughter, will die as well. Using a clue at the end of the tape, Adam finds a bag in the toilet tank containing two hacksaws, which they use to try cutting through their chains. Adam's saw breaks, and he throws it at the mirror in frustration. Lawrence realizes they are meant for their feet and tells Adam that they have been captured by the Jigsaw Killer, who Lawrence is aware of because he was once a suspect. Flashbacks show that five months earlier, while Lawrence was discussing a cancer patient named John Kramer, with some medical students and an orderly named Zep Hindle, he was approached by Detectives David Tapp and Steven Sing, who found his penlight at the scene of a Jigsaw "game". His alibi cleared him, but he agreed to witness the testimony of a heroin addict named Amanda Young, the only known survivor of a Jigsaw game. In her game, a "reverse bear-trap" was locked on her head and set to rip her jaws apart in one minute, but she killed her cellmate in order to retrieve the key from his stomach and remove the trap. Other victims include Paul Leahy, who died trying to escape a caged-in maze lined with razor-wire, and Mark Wilson, who had to obtain the antidote for a slow-acting poison in his body from a safe by reading the combination on the room's walls with a candle. Not only was he nude and smeared in napalm, but he was also forced to walk across broken glass barefoot, and was burned alive when he fumbled with the candle. In the present, Alison and Diana are held captive in their home by a man watching Adam and Lawrence through a camera hidden behind the bathroom's two-way mirror. The Gordons' house is simultaneously being watched by Tapp. Flashbacks reveal that Tapp and Sing located Jigsaw's warehouse using Amanda's videotape, and saved a man who was bound to a chair with drills set to pierce his neck in twenty seconds. Jigsaw fled after slashing Tapp's throat with a concealed wrist-blade, and Sing was killed by a shotgun trap while pursuing him. Tapp was discharged for entering Jigsaw's lair without a warrant and began stalking Lawrence, convinced that he is Jigsaw. In the bathroom, Adam and Lawrence follow a clue and find a box containing a one-way cellphone, a lighter and two cigarettes. They attempt to use a "poisoned" cigarette to stage Adam's death, but this is proven false when Adam's chain suddenly shocks him. Adam then recalls his abduction. Upon returning home to develop photos, he fell asleep in his darkroom. He awoke to find his entire apartment without light, and while searching for an intruder, using camera flashes as light, he discovered a puppet and was attacked by a pig-masked figure. Lawrence was similarly abducted by a pig-masked figure in a parking garage. Lawrence receives a call from Alison, who at gunpoint tells him not to trust Adam. At Lawrence's prompting, Adam admits he was being paid to take photos of Lawrence, and shows him photos from the bag that contained the hacksaws. This starts an argument, during which it is revealed that Lawrence was having an affair with Carla Song, one of his medical students. After urging Adam to describe the man who was paying him, he realizes it was Tapp. Adam then notices a photo he didn't take of a man staring out a window of Lawrence's house. Lawrence identifies him as Zep, who is revealed to be the man holding Alison and Diana captive, but the clock strikes six as he realizes this. Zep moves to kill Alison and Diana, but Alison, who managed to untie herself, attacks him as he holds the phone to her ear to tell Lawrence he failed. They fight for the gun gaining Tapp's attention in the process, and he arrives in time to save Alison and Diana. Tapp chases Zep and eventually confronts him in an underground room, where he is shot after a brief struggle. Lawrence, only aware of gunshots and screaming, is shocked causing him to lose reach of the phone. Desperate to save his family, Lawrence frantically saws off his foot and shoots Adam with the corpse's revolver. Soon afterwards, Zep enters the bathroom intent on killing Lawrence, but is knocked to the ground and beaten to death with the toilet tank's cover by Adam, who only suffered a flesh wound. Lawrence crawls away after promising to bring back help, and Adam searches Zep's body for a key. He finds another recorder, which reveals that Zep was another victim: he was instructed to oversee their game in order to obtain the antidote for the slow-acting poison in his body. As the tape ends, the corpse in the middle of the room rises, revealing himself as John Kramer, the real Jigsaw Killer. He tells Adam that the key is in the bathtub, which was sucked down the drain when Adam first awoke. When Adam attempts to shoot Kramer he shocks Adam with a remote control causing him to lose reach of the gun. Kramer then proceeds to turn off the lights and seals the bathroom door, leaving Adam to die. Spoilers End Cast and Crew *Cary Elwes as Dr. Lawrence Gordon *Leigh Whannell as Adam Stanheight *Tobin Bell as John Kramer *Michael Emerson as Zep Hindle *Danny Glover as Detective David Tapp *Ken Leung as Detective Steven Sing *Monica Potter as Alison Gordon *Makenzie Vega as Diana Gordon *Shawnee Smith as Amanda Young *Dina Meyer as Detective Allison Kerry *Benito Martinez as Brett *Alexandra Bokyun Chun as Carla *Mike Butters as Paul Stallberg *Paul Gutrecht as Mark Wilson *Ned Bellamy as Jeff Ridenhour *Oren Koules as Donnie Greco Quotes Notes See Also *Star Trek: Phase II *Alien *Spider-Man 2 *The Day After Tomorrow External Links *Saw on RiffTrax *Saw on Amazon Category:Saw Category:RiffTrax Presents Category:RiffTrax Presents in 2008 Category:Kevin Murphy Category:Bill Corbett